United States      Prevention, Pesticides     EPA712-C-96-024
          Environmental Protection    and Toxic Substances     August 1996
          Agency        (7101)
&EPA   Product Properties
          Test Guidelines
          OPPTS 830.6315
          Flammability

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                           INTRODUCTION
     This guideline is one  of a series  of test guidelines  that have been
developed by the Office of Prevention, Pesticides and Toxic Substances,
United States Environmental Protection Agency for use in the testing  of
pesticides and toxic substances, and the  development of test data that must
be submitted to the Agency  for review under Federal regulations.

     The Office of Prevention, Pesticides and Toxic Substances (OPPTS)
has  developed this guideline through  a  process of harmonization that
blended the testing  guidance and requirements that existed in the Office
of Pollution Prevention and Toxics  (OPPT) and appeared in Title 40,
Chapter I,  Subchapter R of the Code of Federal Regulations  (CFR), the
Office of Pesticide Programs (OPP) which appeared in publications of the
National Technical  Information Service (NTIS) and  the guidelines pub-
lished by the Organization  for Economic Cooperation and Development
(OECD).

     The purpose of harmonizing these guidelines into a single set  of
OPPTS  guidelines is to minimize variations among the testing procedures
that must be performed to meet the data  requirements of the U. S. Environ-
mental Protection Agency  under the Toxic  Substances Control Act (15
U.S.C. 2601) and the Federal Insecticide,  Fungicide and Rodenticide Act
(7U.S.C. I36,etseq.).

     Final  Guideline Release: This document is available from the U.S.
Government Printing Office, Washington, DC 20402 on The Federal Bul-
letin  Board.   By  modem  dial   202-512-1387,   telnet   and  ftp:
fedbbs.access.gpo.gov     (IP     162.140.64.19),    internet:     http://
fedbbs.access.gpo.gov, or call 202-512-0132 for disks or paper copies.
This guideline is available in ASCII and PDF (portable document format)
from the EPA Public Access Gopher (gopher.epa.gov) under the heading
"Environmental Test Methods and Guidelines."

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      OPPTS 830.6315   Flammability.
           (a) Scope—(1) Applicability. This guideline is intended to meet test-
      ing requirements  of the Federal Insecticide,  Fungicide,  and Rodenticide
      Act (FIFRA) (7 U.S.C. 136, et seq.}.

           (2) Background. The source material used in developing this har-
      monized OPPTS test guideline is OPP guideline 63-15 Flammability (Pes-
      ticide Assessment Guidelines, Subdivision D: Product Chemistry, EPA Re-
      port 540/9-82-018,  October  1982)  and  40  CFR  158.190 Physical and
      chemical characteristics.

           (b) Test methods—(1) Objective, (i) Data on the physical and chem-
      ical characteristics of pesticide  products  are  used to confirm or provide
      supportive information on their identity. Such  data are also used in review-
      ing the production  or formulating process used to produce the pesticide
      or product.

           (ii) This test is used to  characterize the  flammability of liquids and
      gases for purposes of safety.

           (2) Test details—(i)  Liquids.  The flash point shall  be determined
      for combustible liquid products  by  any procedure consistent with para-
      graph  (d) of this  guideline or which is acceptable to any other Federal
      agency that requires this determination.  The following table 1 summarizes
      the applicability and equipment requirements  for the four commonly used
      methods.

      Table 1—Comparison of Flash Point  Test Methods
           Method
        Test Material
         Equipment
Tag Closed Tester
Setaflash Closed Tester
Pensky-Martens Closed Tester
CIPAC MT 12 (Abel Methods)
Liquids with viscosity  < 9.5 cSt
  at 25 °C and flash point below
  93 °C.
Paints,  enamels, lacquers,  and
  related products having  flash
  points between 0-100 °C and
  viscosity 150 st at 25 °C.
Fuel oils, lube oils, suspensions
  of solids,  liquids that form  a
  surface film, and other liquids.
Petroleum  products   and  mix-
  tures (liquid, viscous, or solid),
  viscous products.
Laboratory fabrication
Available from manufacturer
Laboratory fabrication
Laboratory fabrication
           (ii) Aerosols. The  flash point method is inadequate for determining
      the flammability of aerosols. Flame extension or flame projection of aero-
      sol products shall be determined by the "Standard Method of Test for
      Flammability of Aerosol Products, ASTM D-3065" (see paragraph (d)(l)
      of this guideline).

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     (iii) Alternative method. If an alternative method is used, it is rec-
ommended that the registrant consult with the Agency prior to adopting
the test method.

     (c) Reporting. (1) The flash point shall be reported in degrees Cel-
sius.

     (2) The  flame extension or flame projection shall be reported to the
nearest centimeter.

     (3) Any methods used to characterize the physical properties  of a
pesticide shall be referenced or described in the application for registration.
If the methods used are listed in paragraph (d) of this guideline, reference
to the method will suffice. If other methods are used, copies of such meth-
ods must be submitted with the application.

     (4) References that denote  "ASTM" refer to standardized methods
published by the American Society for Testing and Materials. Philadelphia,
PA.  References denoting "CIPAC" refer to  standardized methods of the
Collaborative International Pesticide  Analytical Council, Ltd., Hatching
Green, Harpenden, Hertfordshire, England.

     (5) The  applicant shall  submit his own statistical evaluation of the
precision and accuracy of these measurements (e.g., standard  deviations
or confidence intervals) when appropriate.

     (d) References. The following  references should be consulted for ad-
ditional background material on this test guideline.

     (1) American Society for  Testing and  Materials,  "Standard  Test
Methods for  Flammability of Aerosol Products," D-3065, ASTM, Phila-
delphia, PA, 1994 annual index.

     (2) American Society for Testing and Materials, "Flash Point by Tag
Closed Tester," D-56, ASTM, Philadelphia, PA, 1994 annual index.

     (3) American Society for Testing and  Materials, "Flash Point  by
Pensky-Martens Closed Tester," D-93, ASTM, Philadelphia,  PA, 1994 an-
nual index.

     (4) American Society for Testing and Materials, "Flash Point of Liq-
uids by Setaflash Closed-cup Apparatus," D-3278, ASTM,  Philadelphia,
PA,  1994 annual index.

     (5) Collaborative International Pesticide Analytical Council (CIPAC)
Handbook,  "MT  12 Flash Point,"  CIPAC, Hatching  Green, Harpenden,
Herefordshire, England (1970).

     (6) Official Journal of the  European Communities, "A. 10. Flam-
mability (Solids)," No L 383  A/76.

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    (7) Official Journal of the  European Communities,  "A. 11. Flam-
mability (Gases)," No L 383 A/79.

    (8) Official Journal of the  European Communities,  "A. 12. Flam-
mability (Contact With Water)," No L 383 A/81.

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